HCup - SCAR vs RM92 - Lydiate ' I am confident '

2013/10/19

Starter against Scarlets, Dan Lydiate shared with us his joy of returning to Wales, of being back on rugby fields and admits that he is enjoying his French life a little more each day even though he missess his family farm. Francilian back row will have at heart to show up his real potential this evening in Day 2 of HCup.

You didn’t play the last three or matches, what would be the reasons why you didn't?

I don’t know, obviously coaches are the decision maker, they must know why I wasn’t selected. But I used my spare time to make sure that I have no regrets, by individual extra training to gain extra speed and to become the most efficient as possible when I will have my chance. Also, one the reasons would be that the Back rows that have played recently have performed extremely well, especially last week. I will be given a chance by the coach this week, so I will have to play well.

It’s a great opportunity for you to show up your assets, as you will travel back to Wales against a team which you must know pretty well, isn't it?

Yes, it will be the first time I will go back to Wales since I have moved out here. All my family will come down to watch, so hopefully that will be a great moment. Obviously, I have played a few times against this squad, I know many of the players who play for Wales with me. Plus, they played well against Harlequins last week, so it will be a big game for us to travel to Llanelli. Hopefully, we will play well and get a good result.

French reporters, only sees Scarlets as the team that won away in Day 1 of HCup. But if we look closer, they already lost twice out of three matches at home, what kind of team is Scarlets?

When the Scarlets are on form they are a very tough team to beat. Their back line is a very very classy back line, they also have many good players amongst the forwards too. But we really must be careful because as I said, when they are on form, they are really a tough team to beat. But I have full confidence in our squad as well. No doubt that it will be a tough match.

Do you have friends among this Scarlets’ squad?

I get on quite well with Rob Mccusker, who plays number 8. I know many of the guys out there such as Aaron Shingler, Josh Turnbull, John Davies, Scott Williams. There are quite a good bunch of the guys, I look forward to play against them all.

You said it would be the first time that you will return to Wales, what do you miss the most from Wales? Except for your farm... (Laughs)

The biggest thing for me, would be missing my family farm. You know it is different here but I am really enjoying my time over here. I just need to get used to the French culture a little more and to the language which is hard to learn. But, I am getting there, I am picking up small bits of it each day.

What do you have planned after the match with your family?

We will just have a meal after the game. It will be nice just to see my family, my fiancée’s family, to be all together as they don’t live very far from Llanelli around 20 minutes from the city. So I will stay over there the night and hopefully travel back to France with the squad.